The ultimate price comparison of Integrated Shield Plans (New PruShield Fairer Pricing Approach)
I just finished updating the price increase for AIA Max Essential on my previous post.
Now I have to explain the new PruShield Plans, which is so much more complicated with their new 5 steps plan, also called the Fairer Pricing Approach. I am sure many Prudential customers will be pretty confused but ultimately, most just accept the price increase and changes.
All these changes should be considered to see if they affect you positively.
Basically, the whole structure has changed. I was quite confused reading their new brochure, which I think is intentional so that you will approach their financial advisors. Anyway, these new PruShield Plans seek to benefit those who have good health and claimed less then $1,000 a year, while penalising those who did.
I have to say it looks like a fairer system indeed.
For people who have not claimed a single hospitalisation bill, they reward you with 20% discount with the PruWell Reward. They did not specify how each level will affect the premiums. Does level 5 means 50% higher? Not so sure about that.
For private hospitals with as charged (100%) coverage, this is the premiums you are expected to pay. You will notice that is is a range of premiums here. The price is different for every age so there is an age band. To simplify things, I have included a range so that we can also compare with other insurance providers. The PruWell Reward 20% discount is also added for comparison later.
Comparing to the other insurance companies using the total amount, which is the figure for both Medisave and Cash portion, we would be able to see which is more affordable. Disclaimers are the same as my first post on Integrated Shield Plans.
For the comparison with other companies, there is no change as to which is more affordable. NTUC and AXA still reigns as the most affordable in this category. Prudential is actually more expensive now, to compensate for the 20% discount to healthy people. Even with the 20% discount, they still have one of the highest premiums charged.
For government hospitals with as charged (100%) coverage, there is no PruWell Reward so there is no change from my previous updates.
Conclusion
Prudential is not the most affordable even when you include the PruWell Reward which has the 20% discount. For people who have pre-existing conditions, it would be wiser to stick with NTUC, AXA or even Great Eastern since Prudential prices are subject to increase if you claim too much.
Fairer Pricing Approach does not comes with a fairer price!
What it means for me
Of course, I am going to change from PruExtra Plus to Great Eastern Gold A Plus with my 100% coverage in public hospitals, unless there is any further price changes. I think other companies might follow with the fairer pricing approach!
Do remember to compare your own policies.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Please do not trust my calculations and look through the various benefits and policies that you have. I do not recommend any insurance companies because I get zero commission from this. Like me on Facebook to get more updates on relevant financial comparisons.
Now I have to explain the new PruShield Plans, which is so much more complicated with their new 5 steps plan, also called the Fairer Pricing Approach. I am sure many Prudential customers will be pretty confused but ultimately, most just accept the price increase and changes.
All these changes should be considered to see if they affect you positively.
Basically, the whole structure has changed. I was quite confused reading their new brochure, which I think is intentional so that you will approach their financial advisors. Anyway, these new PruShield Plans seek to benefit those who have good health and claimed less then $1,000 a year, while penalising those who did.
I have to say it looks like a fairer system indeed.
For people who have not claimed a single hospitalisation bill, they reward you with 20% discount with the PruWell Reward. They did not specify how each level will affect the premiums. Does level 5 means 50% higher? Not so sure about that.
For private hospitals with as charged (100%) coverage, this is the premiums you are expected to pay. You will notice that is is a range of premiums here. The price is different for every age so there is an age band. To simplify things, I have included a range so that we can also compare with other insurance providers. The PruWell Reward 20% discount is also added for comparison later.
Comparing to the other insurance companies using the total amount, which is the figure for both Medisave and Cash portion, we would be able to see which is more affordable. Disclaimers are the same as my first post on Integrated Shield Plans.
 |
| The yellow boxes are the cheapest while the orange is the second more affordable. |
 |
| NTUC and AXA is still the most affordable |
Prudential is not the most affordable even when you include the PruWell Reward which has the 20% discount. For people who have pre-existing conditions, it would be wiser to stick with NTUC, AXA or even Great Eastern since Prudential prices are subject to increase if you claim too much.
Fairer Pricing Approach does not comes with a fairer price!
What it means for me
Of course, I am going to change from PruExtra Plus to Great Eastern Gold A Plus with my 100% coverage in public hospitals, unless there is any further price changes. I think other companies might follow with the fairer pricing approach!
Do remember to compare your own policies.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Please do not trust my calculations and look through the various benefits and policies that you have. I do not recommend any insurance companies because I get zero commission from this. Like me on Facebook to get more updates on relevant financial comparisons.
Jes
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Hi Jes
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for this.
I along with my family members are under the prushield private so this helps a lot in also comparing.
Do you think its a good idea for you to change midway through to Great Eastern. They have the rights to reject or complicate the matters when you claim assuming say you have existing conditions that you might not know yourself right? Whats your take on this?
Hi B,
DeleteNice to hear from you! I have the same problem as you now but I would hold on to Prudential for another year. Reason is that should any claims arise during this transfer period, there will be grey areas and I try to avoid that. Furthermore, I am not sure if they will refund you the unused portion. Even if they refund, it will be lower and so the savings might not be much.
I hear from my insurance agent that you can buy the GE policies first and secure it in hand before you cancel your Prushield. That might be a good way. I think if you do not know the existing conditions yourself, legally you are not wrong and so the company will not be able to fault you on this.
Hope this helps and all the best in the change :)
Hi Jes,
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for the good info.
Could you please explain what do you mean by 100% Covered under Public hospitals - Eard A and below. Does this mean that no additional payment required in Public Hospitals and is fully paid by the policy?
Currently, I do not have any IP other than Medishield Life.
Thanks.
Hi there,
DeleteYes it means that under if someone stay in government hospitals under ward A and below, he/she does not have to pay a single cent for the bill because the IP policy covers all the co-insurance and deductible part fully.
Hope this helps, let me know if you need more clarifications!
Hey Jes!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input. Would like to ask about the Great Eastern Gold A Plus, I went to the GE website and noted that for Health Insurance policies, its namely Supreme Health, Total Health and Supreme Medicash. Which is the one you are referring to when you talk about the Great Eastern Gold A Plus?
Hi Duckiebunny,
DeleteAll are under Total Health to get as-charged benefits, which means you do not have to pay the deductibles and co-insurance. However, you will need to buy Supreme Health first. Under Supreme Health, there is P+, A+ and B+ class. Under Total Health, there is the platinum, gold, silver class which is to categorise public or private hospitals.
Yeah I know, it's not really that straightforward. However, the amount you are paying should be the same as what I have listed. If not, please let me know! Hope this is clearer for you. :)
Hi... I just bought AXA Shield Plan A with Basic Care rider last year and just received a letter saying that Basic Care (Plan A) rider premiums will increase due to rising medical costs etc. Would you be able to update the table if it's not too much trouble? I would like to know if it's wise to stick to AXA with the increased premiums for the rider. Thanks very much! Link to premiums list: https://i.imgur.com/mV5SLHj.jpg
ReplyDeleteHi Alicia,
DeleteI am waiting for AXA to release their full figures online before I can update them. The image you gave me is only for the cash portion but I will also need the Medisave portion to calculate the total cost. I am sure they will release it very soon following the recent price increase from NTUC.
Thanks for informing all of us, will drop you a comment once I update the numbers! :)
Hi Jes,
ReplyDeleteI see! The Medisave portion which is the premium for the actual Shield plan and not the Basic Care rider, right? I would suppose that does not increase since they did not mention that portion, only the Cash premiums for the rider will see an increase. Sure, it would be better to wait for the official announcement!
I have a very newbie question. As the premiums for integrated shield plans can be subject to change even though you have already bought it, how often do you review the policies to see if you are still getting good value for your money? In what cases will it be better to stick to one provider instead of switching?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Alicia,
DeleteActually you will have to pay from both the Medisave account and cash to get the Basic Care Rider. The MediShield part (Paid entirely through Medisave) is the same for everyone so does not require comparison. Some companies charge more from Medisave but less from cash, which is one good marketing strategy too.
Oh, if you have bought the policy which is a contract, they will stay the same price for one year even though they increase their price. It is when you renew them, the prices will change. So usually I wait for my policy towards the end of the year before I check around and compare. Don't worry, it's not newbie at all, I am sure your question will benefit the rest too!
Glad that you are actively looking around! :)
Hi jes, how often does the premiums for IP change?
ReplyDeleteIm currently under Aviva Myshield plan 2 but i realised that AXA shield plan B would save me more money in the long run.
In addition the claim limit for AXA is $50,0000 lesser. I was wondering how much claim limit should we insure ourselves with?
Does the claim limit renew back to its original amount every time after we claim?
And what are the risks we might encounter if we switch our hospitalisation plan to a different insurer?
Pardon my amatuer questions
Hi Shihao,
DeleteHow often the premiums change depend on each company itself but for the last few years, the premiums have been increasing due to higher claims from customers.
For the claim limit, usually it is 10 times your annual pay so only you can answer how much is enough.
The claim limit and premium is fixed, it does not matter if you have claimed or not. Only for the private hospitals under Prudential, the premiums will increase from Level 1 to 5 if you have claimed before.
Risks will just be that your pre-existing conditions may not be covered when you change, otherwise I can't really think of other risks for now. No worries, these are all questions others would want to ask too! I am not the expert so it's best to check with the insurance agents :)
Oh ya, a reader just notified me that AXA is going to increase their premiums by August 2018 and I will be updating it once they have uploaded the information online. So not necessary AXA will be cheaper!
DeleteHi jes,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the information! Now that i know AXA will increase their premiums, i will review it again later to determine whether i should still switch.
How to check if i have any pre-existing conditions that is currently covered by my insurance plan? I really dont know if i have any pre-existing condition and am afraid to find out i actually have after switching to a new ISP. I currently only visit the skin center for a slight eczema around my lips which i am not sure if this is covered?
And will changing ISP for a number of times increase the difficulty of getting a new ISP in the future? Since premiums are always changing we might need to change the ISP again if it is not worth it anymore.
Hi there,
DeleteWell if you do not know, probably you do not have any pre-existing conditions. All insurance companies will ask you to clarify on that before you buy any policies. Eczema is probably not life threatening so it won't be covered.
For ISP, it is renewed every year. Premiums are not going to fall or increase even if you stick with the same insurance company! If you can pay for it, I doubt it will be difficult to change at all. Hope all these helps!